


A Mage Forgotten

by Calchexxis



Category: League of Legends
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-18
Updated: 2014-04-17
Packaged: 2017-12-05 17:55:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/726159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calchexxis/pseuds/Calchexxis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kassadin, once a magus who stepped too far into the realm now known as the Void, seeks to save Runeterra from the horrors of that alien dimension. Despite these intentions he is shunned, feared, and ostracized for his inhuman nature. One young woman, a brilliant maga in her own right, reaches out to him though, drawn by his curious power and experiences.</p><p>Will she draw him back to the real world? Or will he remain as he has been since he fell to his knee's in forgotten Icathia and let the void inside? As a mage forgotten.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Hilltop at Sunset

There's almost no sound when I wield it, the Nether Blade. Being a construct of void energy and will, it had no mass, so there was only the faintest ripping sound as it plunged into the Starchild's chest and out her back. Of course, its not even truly her. The summoned effigy faded back to the aether as she is began the process of rebirthing at her side's Pool. Now to... 

An explosion ripped through the air, the enemy nexus had fallen. How curious, it seems the little explorer side-stepped through reality with enough stealth to rip it apart behind enemy lines, I felt the phantom lines of a grin behind my respirator form. He had talent, but he was too young by far.

Still, at least it's over, I was growing weary of this summoner scratching at my mind.

I braced myself for the familiar yanking sensation of being unsummoned. There came the usual pseudo-comforting rush of bleak starlight as I pass momentarily near the Void before I was dropped squarely in the prep chamber. The sound of post-combat chatter filled my ears as I materialized. Ezreal and that ridiculous yordle inventor were chatting in the corner, Ashe and Tryndamere spoke quietly for a moment before slipping out together.

"Kass, you want to come grab a drink with us?" Ezreal had sidled up to me with an easy smile on his face.

He was always trying get me to tell him how I 'teleport' so easily. He failed to understand that, unlike him, what I did was not truly a teleportation. What I do is step partially into a dimension that is so inimical to human life that what passes for air there would be toxic to mortal flesh, then I step out elsewhere. As I said though, he was too young by far to understand such things, and too curious by half. I turned to give my excuses.

I shook my head, adjusting my vox filter as I did so. "No, I believe I shall enjoy the evening alone but... thank you for the offer," I replied. Before he could retort, I willed the space around me to bend and I slipped sideways through the Void. 

Another thing he failed to grasp, through no fault of his own, was that simple pleasures like 'getting a drink' were lost to me and have been ever since I changed. Dropping a few crowns in front of a startled street vendor I'd appeared before, I lifted a meat pastry from his cart. The matter it was made up of converted into fortifying energy in my hand, allowing me to absorb its nutrients. A few other customers noisily eating their own portions stopped to stare as I glide away.

Well, at least my way is cleaner.

Even now, when I closed my eyes... even here in Demacia which was my current host; I could feel the horrors that devoured Icathia scratching at the walls of the Real. Its hungry and voiceless screams echoing as if from a great distance.

Banishing the phantom noise from my mind I fold space again, stepping this time to a particular hillside. It was nearly sunset, so...

Sunlight lashed my eyes as I landed on the grassy hill, my hand reflexively darting upwards to guard my face and allow my eyes time to adjust. I could feel the wind blow across my skin, the sunlight washing over me. For one insane moment I was tempted to rip my vox filter off of my face and take a deep breath of the clean evening air. That, however, would have been suicide. The atmosphere of Valoran is no longer hospitable to me, without this filter that single deep breath would have choked me to death within minutes.

Besides, if I wanted an early death it would probably be faster to super-glue a Yordle to Warwick...

I chuckled dryly at the thought although the noise ended up coming out of my respirator sounding like a soft but violent hacking.

"Are you alright?"

A jolt snapped down my spine; I was getting rusty, no one should have been able to get within a hundred feet of me without my knowledge. I turned my head to regard the speaker, a petite blonde girl with her hair in a ponytail sat no less four yards behind me, a hesitant smile on her face. She looked familiar but... then I spotted a bejeweled staff laying in the grass beside her, ah...

"Lady Lux, I did not... yes, I'm fine..." I answered hesitantly. Lux was one of the most influential members of the League. Being both the sister of Garen, the Might of Demacia, and a talented mage in her own right, she was very nearly a princess in the eyes of her homeland.

"I have not seen you here before, may I ask what brings you to this hill?" I asked, trying to deny the urge to simply turn back and watch the sunset I'd some here to see.

Lux pointed up to a magnificent building in the near distance in response and smiled.

"That's my home, someone mentioned seeing a 'strange and unpleasant-looking character lurking about the hillside near sunset'" Lux said, the last part in a comically gruff voice. "I told them I'd check it out." she finished with a wry smile.

Of course, I knew this part town had looked familiar, and I knew it was somewhere in the nobles district but... perfect spatial awareness or not I still didn't know the landmarks very well.

Well, it had been pleasant while it lasted. "I see, I apologize for trespassing on your grounds, it was not my intention, I will leave you in peace." I bowed stiffly and begin to draw space around me before she called out.

"Wait!" she held out her hand far too close to my event horizon. With a quiet snap I dispelled my efforts and choked back a curse. For a moment I was angry, almost furious, she didn't even realize that I had nearly taken three of her fingers with me. It wasn't her fault, though, so I remained silent. Completely unaware of the danger she had been in mere moments ago Lux stood, dusting off her clothing. She wore a long, demure, white skirt and delicate shoes with a leather belt clasped around her waist, and a finely tailored brown vest. 

Little wonder that I didn't recognized her, I'd never seen her out of her battle-gear. I had to remind myself that, unlike me, she could wear whatever she pleased when she wasn't on the Fields.

"I never said you had to leave." she said, stepping over to stand beside me. I was surprised, I'd never had occasion to speak to the Lady Lux in more than professional terms but I had expected her to be more like her brother. Distrustful of my 'tainted magics' and 'unwholesome nature'. So I nodded in way I hoped conveyed gratitude and turned back to the horizon.

We watched the sun make its final movements, sliding out of sight as night closed in around us, the slow evening wind washing away the heat of the day. She didn't seem bothered in the slightest by my presence. She was, in point of fact, doing exactly what I had been imagining myself doing earlier in a fit of nostalgic insanity, taking a deep breath of the cool air.

"You can come to this hill anytime, I'll tell the groundskeeper who you are and that you have my permission." Lux said lightly as she brushed a few golden strands from her face.

Will wonders never cease? "You have my thanks, Lady Lux" I answered after a few moments.

She nodded magnanimously and started walking back up the hill for a ways before stopping and looking back down at me, a single delicate eyebrow raised. "Are you going to walk me back to the mansion or not?" she asked, a hint of noble haughtiness sliding into her voice.

The gears stopped in my head for a moment as I tried to fathom her meaning. Eventually I realized that she expected the same polite regard from me as she would from any nobleman. "Ah, yes, how rude of me..." I responded almost mechanically, gliding up to her side.

The walk was made in comfortable silence and, lost in my own thoughts as I was, the distance passed quickly. Lux didn't see me as some alien figure, rather she regarded me as the human I once was, neither intimidated nor fascinated by my strangeness. Such thoughtful regard was... pleasant. I bow deeply when we reach the mansions' great and gilded double doors.

"It was a pleasure, sharing your company this evening my lady" I say sincerely, having not truly enjoyed myself to this degree since my egress from the Void.

"As did I Magus Kassadin, perhaps we shall again then?" a beatific smile graced her features, "till then, fare you well" she inclined her head graciously as a manservant opened the door for her.

She disappeared with the fading light of the household as the door closed, surprisingly soundless for such a large edifice.

Lady Lux, not at all what I had expected, even the scratching was quieter.

I return to my room at the Institute's embassy in Demacia, picking up one of the tasteless military rations I collect for sustenance and absorbing its nutrients, I muttered to myself "perhaps we shall again indeed..." the resulting sounds coming out as hissing static.


	2. Growing Bonds

I was late.

I reached out with my preternatural sense, seizing multiple folds of reality to rift-walk the longest distance I could manage, but the act was draining. Even I could draw out mana only so quickly, and the void is loathe to give up its power so easily.

A familiar vertigo seized me as it always did when I chained my 'walks. Maintaining spatial equilibrium is nearly impossible in the void and its harder still while constantly flitting between the void and real-space. I appear in the prep-room just in time to feel the displacing yank of being dropping into the summoning buffer along with my other teammates, Ezreal again, he still won't stop trying to wheedle the knowledge of my Rift-walk out of me, I can feel the presence of Ashe too but her paramour is not with her this time, instead...

Malzahar. Wonderful.

By and far my polar opposite, the insane prophet had his mind torn open by the void and filled with aberrant images. Now he's obsessed with cracking the veil open, the very event I have devoted my life to ensuring never comes to pass.

The other two though; the demacian gargoyle Galio and...

Garen, The Might of Demacia.

The patriotic warrior possessed a deep and abiding dislike for me. I wasn't that he hated me, I knew, but my powers were an abomination in his eyes, impure and corrupt. I do not necessarily disagree.

Gravity and sensation returned in a rush as we were each dropped in place at our summoner pool.

"Malzahar, take the lower side with Galio, I'll take the upper with Ashe, Kassadin, hold the middle lane." Barely out of the buffer and Garen was rattling off orders like troop assignments, though it was a testament to his natural affinity for leadership that we all moved to position, albeit grudgingly. I was content with my actions and I had no issue with following orders, but Malzahar and Ashe disliked receiving them, not surprising since they were, respectively, a madman and a queen.

However, as usual, neither could find any tactical fault in the arrangement, so the lanes were filled. My mind was elsewhere though, despite it being less than a minute til the starting horn. I could see the Noxian blood mage Vladimir standing off in the distance, smug as ever, but I only registered him subconsciously. For a few seconds more, I could remain in that place.

On a hilltop at sunset...

The horn sounded, shattering my reverie. My nullblade hissed out on reflex, coalescing at my wrist. I pulled the veil thinner around me as I readied for my opening volley. The mindless minions charge past me to clash with their counterparts, and Vlad remained a safe distance as I closed in, dispatching his minions with ease. I reflected dolefully on the annoyance of having the majority of my powers sealed away until the later stages of the fight but... Then he moved; My hand arched upwards with the ease of practice as I felt the twitch in the back of my mind, my summoner warning me that Vladimir was closing fast. Arcane energy crackles softly around his hand but I was the quicker. A null sphere crashed over him, shorting out whatever blood magic he was calling. Hissing in anger the haemomancer dashed back, knowing his powers were weakened until the effect of my spell faded.

"Your magic is powerless against me noxian" I taunted him as I dispatch more of his minions. "You are weak."

I could see the anger in his eyes, a shadow falling over his face suddenly, barely there. Then for an instant I see him smile before vanishing as if it hadn't happened, he moved in quickly and aggressively, faster this time he wraps me in his magic, pulling blood and energy from my body, fortunately my time in the void has given me some resistance to magic, I feel a portion of his power seep into me, strengthening me but...

He's goading me. It was too obvious. The wretch had no subtlety in the art of combat.

I move forward momentarily before quickly falling back and sure enough Warwick leapt out from where he had been hidden in the brush. But I'm already gone. The former alchemist growled something foul to Vladimir before disappearing back into the bush.

I grinned, remembering the thought that had crossed my mind on that hilltop the day before...

Yordles.

I chuckled again before moving forward, catching Vlad off guard and landing a null sphere directly into his chest before lashing out with a force pulse, causing the fabric of space in front of me to convulse violently. His skin and clothing ruptured a. I used the moment to cover the distance in a single rush, allowing additional power to surge into my nullblade, I cut upwards, slicing cleanly through him... only for him to fall into a grotesque mass of blood and ooze away.

"Frustrating puddle of gore..." I muttered as I backed away.

The battle continued to go back and forth, Garen managing to dispatch the Zaun alchemist Singed with some timely help from Ashe's frigid arrows. Vladimir however, true to his cowardly nature, remained well back from the fight, outside of my range. Knowing Warwick's bloodthirsty tendencies I was forced to keep my own distance as well. Seeing my reticence the Noxian mage grew bolder however, exactly as I expected him too. He hadn't seen enough blood and it was driving him to foolishness. Especially since only moments ago I felt my spatial awareness bloom as my ability to rift-walk returned.

Grinning behind my vox filter I put up a half-hearted defense, allowing Vladimir to push me onto my tower, landing only a couple of null spheres onto him and taking some of his own magical attacks on purpose, giving him the feel of even footing.

Then he pushed... and I struck.

Exploding forward, I passed through the Void, the rift I opened next to him lashed him with the unbridled energy of my event horizon. A null sphere was followed instantly by force pulse, ripping into his back almost simultaneously, while my other hand energized my Null Blade, wrapping it in excess void energy and slash at him. I ripped through what little armor he had. Panicking, Vladimir dropped back into his blood form but I grin as he made his feeble attempts to escape, as soon as he was solid again I called on my summoner to shunt me sideways through space to land the final blow, a null sphere collided with him, knocking him cold, his body fading into the ether and I hissed in pleasure as I felt the stolen energy of the kill flow into me...

* * *

The battle ended quickly, after a few devastating early defeats the enemy towers laid in ruin. With their base siege'd on all sides the Noxians opted to lay down arms, surrendering none-too-gracefully.

As soon as the battle was over I left, not bothering with small talk as I stepped out of the prep room and looked out at the sky.

It was still early evening... "I may still have time."

As I had less than an hour earlier I seized the fabric of reality and shot myself forward, a pleasant hilltop fixed firmly in my mind's eye as my destination. I appeared a few dozen feet from my usual spot, stepping out of the void. As Vladimir discovered, there were some nasty side-effects to those in close proximity to my arrival. The same was usually true of my departure as well but my powers were significantly reigned in during the League competitions.

I arrived just in time for the sun to begin its slow descent behind the horizon. A good day, its a shame that... but no matter, I'm sure she has better things to do than-

"Kassadin!" a familiar voice startled me out of my musings, I didn't need to look to know she was running up to me. I did anyway.

She wiped sweat from her brow as she dropped down to sit beside me. I leaned against the tree I was standing under as Lux started pulling off some of the more extraneous bits of her armor.

"Sorry, I would've been here sooner but I had to 'escort my brother back to the mansion' while he regaled me with the finer points of the battle today" the small blonde said, her voice lilting sarcastically while trying to dislodge a particularly stubborn pauldron. "He was certainly in a good mood, the team must've beaten the Noxians pretty soundly."

I nodded as she tossed her boots behind her, "If you were not in combat today then why are you in battle-gear?" I asked, curious. She didn't sound as if she had come from the Field.

"Oh, right, that was my father's bodyguard, Lord Zhao's idea. He refuses to let me go out of the house without my armor while the 'wretched and immoral noxians' are in the city" She answered in a tired tone, "I doubt they would try anything, they know the Accords, ambushing a Demacian champion would get them kicked out of the League."

"I suppose he's only worried for you" I answer, mentally agreeing with the aging warrior. The Noxians' were not to be trusted, they numbered one too many assassins in their ranks to allow their opponents any easy comfort.

The sun finished its slow plummet and darkness fell over the noble's district again, but only for a moment. Light bloomed from Lux's hand as she stood up with her boots stowed firmly in a rucksack with her pauldron.

"Thanks for sticking around, Kass," Lux grinned as she finished packing the last of her unnecessary battle-gear. "It's nice to have someone from the League to talk to who isn't, y'know, family."

I fell in beside her as we start walking towards the looming mansion that was her home, "No thanks are necessary, I enjoy speaking to you." I answered honestly, "Personally it's refreshing not to be treated like I'm about to eat someone's first-born at any moment."

She laughed raucously.

"No problem, besides, I wouldn't have to worry about that anyway. Garen is our family's first-born and I'm pretty sure he's completely indigestible." We shared laughter, hers was boisterous and loud. Hardly a ladies laugh. Mine was, as ever, scratched and mechanical, but for the first time I found that I didn't really mind.


	3. Ionia vs. Noxus

The cheering was deafening, on one side the Noxian supporters rallied together, screaming support for their champions as they filed out. On the other the Ionians hissed and booed the Noxian forces. The announcer boomed over a massive loud-speaker.

"And Sion is out first, his enormous battle-axe balanced evenly on his shoulder, his gait surprisingly agile for such a large being." The announcer pauses for a moment as Sion eyes him neutrally, "But of course one can't judge a book by its cover, especially not this one." The announcer finishes and Sion nods, a satisfied smirk spread over his face.

The announcer comes around from the first introduction as... "Here come the next two and... ah, wow." probably for dramatic effect the sultry Morgana and Miss Fortune the beauty of Bilgewater step onto the stadium, their delicate frames hiding deadly power.

"Ladies and gentlemen a hand for the lovely ladies!" the announcer calls over the speaker as Miss Fortune and Morgana blow perfectly timed kisses to either side of the stadium, eliciting yet more cheers, a few even from the Ionian side.

I feel the small form in the seat next to me shift uncomfortably, I glanced down to see a flat frown on Lux's face as she glared at the two champions playing the fans, crowd-favorites, no doubt. She made a small sniffing sound and crossed her arms. I expect to get an earful about them as she opened her mouth, but she only said two syllables before closing it again.

"Hussies"

I nearly fell off of my seat.

The familiar crackling static of my laughter filled the air around me until I mastered myself, pulling back into my seat, still chuckling in that painful-sounding vox-filtered buzz. Lux was staring at me, a bemused expression playing over her face. "What did I say?" she asked, her eyebrow raising in that quizzical manner I'd come to enjoy watching.

"Nothing you just..." I smile behind my vox as I search for the right words "You sounded very Demacian, just now." Her eyebrow arched upwards another millimeter, probably trying to decide if it was a compliment or not. Evidently deciding on the former, she smiled and turned back to the arriving champions.

I turned back as the announcer was finishing introducing the final Noxian champions. The near-insane Zaunite, alchemical prodigy, Singed, had already made his appearance, his skeletal frame concealing his unnatural, chem-fueled strength.

Behind him was...

A swirling red cloak wrapped around the thin and aristocratic Vladimir.

"The Blood Magus ladies and gentlemen! Bringing his unusual but powerful brand of magic to the field." The announcer calls out.

I felt a small grin form as I recalled our last bout, his taut face and mannerisms betrayed the fact that he hadn't forgotten it either.

On the other end of the field more champions were making their appearance as the Ionian supporters began to cheer in earnest for their own saviors. It was upon these brave souls that the fate of the provinces in the southern islands lay. The first out unsurprisingly is...

"The star-child Soraka! Once a powerful ascended being, she still feels the call to protect Ionia as strongly as ever and tonight is her chance to demonstrate for us all exactly how far her convictions go!" The announcer apparently leaning towards the Noxians.

I wonder briefly is Morgana and Miss Fortune were the cause of the bias before the enormous shadow of the next champion emerges.

"From the deep forests and high mountains, the mighty Udyr joins the battle! Supporting the birthplace of his famous martial arts!" His tone switched fairly obviously, perhaps trying to make up for his previous statement.

I turn to Lux as she regards the Ionian Champions filing out.

"Do you think Ionia has a chance?" I asked her evenly, personally I prefered that Ionia maintain its sovereignty. Noxus had made more than one alliance with Malzahar and the vile void-beast Cho'Gath.

I watched her brow crinkle slightly as she considered the composition of the teams. The ninja Kennen emerges alongside the mummy Amumu, eliciting many cheers from the attending yordles.

"I think so." she replied quietly slowly raising her hand to her chin, bracing it with a single delicate knuckle, a gesture I'd come to accept as a sign of deep thought. "Noxus is arrogant, they defeated Ionia in a great blitz, using every underhanded war-tactic they possess but..." she paused in consideration.

"They don't have that option here." I finished for her, grasping her line of reason.

"Mm, yes, back then the Ionian leaders had to consider civilian casualties, but here, its just us soldiers." she pointed out, leaning straight-backed against her seat as the Frost Archer, and newly crowned Queen of Freljord, Ashe emerged onto the summoner's pool.

I nodded as I consider her reasoning. It was true that, in a knockdown, drag-out fight, Ionia was probably as deadly than Noxus, if not more so given its long history of martial prowess. Udyr seemed the best proof but Kennen was just as much so, representing his order since his mentor Shen was chosen to be excluded by the Noxian forces, as the mutant Rammus was by the Ionians.

"In this battleground I think Ionia has the upper hand." Lux admitted as she leaned forward, her fingers steepled in front of her face and bright, piercing eyes roaming over the Rift. "Noxus is foolish and arrogant, they fight with pride but all that truly drives them is greed. The Ionians on the other hand fight with desperation. Their friends and families on the line." I peered down at the Ionian forces, forcing myself to see the emotions on their faces.

Passion.

Hatred.

Drive.

Need.

The comparison to the sneering Noxians was no comparison at all.

I nodded again as I lean back, "Only a fool discounts the factor of 'proper motivation' in a battle" I quoted as I considered the participants. An almost imperceptible nod signs Lux's agreement.

I folded my arms in contemplation. There were times I forgot that Lux wasn't simply a spellslinger and willworker. She was a military genius on par with her brother... as well as an infiltration and reconnaissance specialist.

More than that... She was a magical prodigy who, after seeing the Dark Angel Morgana use her Dark Binding spell only once, reverse engineered it by breaking down the magical theory.

Hm, I resolved to ask her about that one day...

I started slightly as I felt her hand lay over my arm. I opened my eyes again to reality. Lux smiled up at me as she nodded towards the Rift, the champions were all in place. I settled in, preparing to watch a battle of monumental importance take place. Yet my mind continued to dwell elsewhere.

Lux was no mere noblewoman, even she acknowledged it. She's a soldier, as we all were.

The starting horn sounded. And the battle for Ionia's future began.


	4. Victory and Choice

It was over in moments and the crowd's cheer was deafening. At least the Ionian crowd was, which in my own humble opinion more than made up for the rather satisfyingly slack-jawed silence the Noxians appeared to be suffering from. The star of the moment was the mighty Udyr, like a ghost he had passed from jungle to river to jungle, lane to lane, supporting his companions from the shadows, leaping where the Noxians were weakest only to vanish into the trees when reinforcements were imminent.

Lux cheered with equal fervor and smile crossed my face, hidden by the ornate vox that supplied my breath as I celebrated alongside her, though I kept myself to clapping, a loud cheer through my voice filter would've sounded more like something large and unpleasant dying violently beneath a combine harvester.

"I must say," I voiced through the filter, "Even I expected Noxus to put up more of a fight than that."

Lux smiled broadly at my comment, somewhere in the distance the announcer is recapping the match but everyone knew the score now, Ionia had wanted this more than anything and their perseverance was rewarded.

"This was amazing, a fine blow to the famous 'Noxian Pride'. I'm sure my brother will enjoy gloating over this victory till the sun comes up tomorrow," Lux laughed, just loudly enough that I picked it up over the cacophony of the fans. "So what do you say we go now? Beat the rush, I'm sure the Ionians will have a festival or something to commemorate this event in a week or so."

I nodded, I began moving through the crowd, politely remaining by Lux's side. I found it, irritating, to be so encumbered. In a crowd such as this I would normally just step through the pattern of space and appear somewhere clearer but it would be beyond rude to simply leave her. So I pushed and shoved, and most moved more than quickly enough when they caught sight of me.

"Well it's nice to know my face is good for something," I voxed dryly as we move through the crowd, Lux shot me an apologetic look that had a tinge of shame around it. She knew she was holding me up. I instantly regretted saying anything. I pretended not to notice her discomfort and threw myself towards clearing a path.

"Kass, I don't suppose you could just… you know… take me with you?" she asked uncertainly. She knew I'd catch her meaning. I stopped for a moment, both shocked and intrigued by the idea. I had never brought someone along…

Take her with me on a riftwalk? 

"Lux…" she'd insisted on my use of her given name, I think she was sick of the 'Lady' title. "The Void is a place fraught with more dangers than you or I could count, not the least of which is its atmosphere..." I said carefully, I wanted to make sure she understood the implications of what she was asking me to do.

"Kass, don't patronize me, you can't possibly think I haven't researched your 'Void' to the fullest when you and that sociopath Malzahar entered the line-up of Champions could you?"

I worked my mouth for a moment, for once I was glad I had the filter rig covering my mouth. It turned what would've been a rather idiotic expression that was more reminiscent of a deep-sea fish than a Champion into something more like an intense stare. I hadn't really considered it, though in hindsight it was obvious. Why wouldn't she on the chance we met on opposite sides? I mentally chastised myself, I underestimated her again, I make a mental note to remind myself of her many strategic achievements once in a while to keep it from happening again as I open my mouth to voice a valid concern.

Still, it wasn't the same. "Studying is a far cry from experiencing it, I should know…" The amount of accurate information on the Void probably wouldn't have filled more than a handful of tomes.

She nodded her head gravely as the people cheered around us, "I think it would be safe. It only lasts for an instant…"

"Time doesn't flow quite right there, what may be an instant here could feel like a year there, or less than an instant even," I replied "But… in truth I've never tried, you're sure?" I stated more than asked. I knew she was sure. This was a woman who was never anything less than sure, a quality that was equal parts infuriating and admirable.

As expected, she nodded excitedly, barely keeping the girlish grin off her face. A coldness gripped my chest at the anticipation in her eyes, an anticipation that neatly mirrored my own many years ago as I strapped an experimental harness on and prepared to rip open a hole to gods-knew-where.

"A few conditions: hold your breath, keep your eyes closed, and DO. NOT. MOVE.' I intoned with sudden and grave seriousness. The grin slid off her face at the deadliness in my voice. To my relief she nodded, I'd half expected her to argue. Fortunately she was a soldier as much as a mage, she knew an order when she heard one. I was just thankful she was willing to follow it.

"Alright then, here we go."

She blushed a bit as I moved close to her, wrapping tightly around her. I lifted her into my arms, marveling at how feather-light she was. As soon my arms fully enclosed her slim form I reached out with my mind, willing the many distractions of the Now away. The roar of the crowds. The announcer's voice. The smell of her hair. 

The rift envelope formed flawlessly, slightly larger to compensate for the extra mass, and stronger than I'd ever made it. I wasn't going to let anything in.

I willed space to fold, commanding reality to allow me passage through that most terrible of places. 

_I sincerely hope that this isn't a terrible idea…_


	5. The Might and the Mage

The hole in the real snapped closed as I pulled us both through, standing on the roof of one of Demacia's watchtowers. A strangled yelp of surprise issued from beneath us, probably whoever happened to draw the ill luck of having to man the watchtower during the historic match. I caught a glimpse of widened eyes before the guard vanished back beneath the outcropping once he recognized who exactly had landed atop his tower. 

I held tight to the small, limp frame in my arms as I stared out toward the horizon. I didn't have to look down, to know that her face clenched in a rictus of horror. Or to know why she was shaking so badly.

"Damn it, Lux…" the snap and crackle of the vox distortion in my rebreather masked the very real crack in my voice. "I told you not to open your eyes…"

I heard the footsteps of the man running down the staircase, I must have spooked him badly.

Oh well… I had to get her clear of the city at least, open air would help… I hoped.

I felt her vise-like grip around me, even through my armour, slacken as she fell limp into a merciful faint. I could only hope her mind buried whatever it was she'd seen. At least I didn't have to worry about her opening her eyes mid-jump this time.

It wasn't too much different from my standard 'walks, so long as I strengthened the protective envelope and didn't over-jump it would be perfectly safe to travel with another person, so as they didn't…

"Damn it Lux, why couldn't you curb your curiosity for the instant it would've taken me to finish the jump?"

Reaching out with my mind I seized the edges of the real and slingshot us to that hillside, sunset was coming and if… when she woke, that would be the best place for it. 

Maybe she'd think it was all just a terrible nightmare

Three jumps later I stepped out onto the hillside just in time to see the sun begin its scheduled descent. I shifted my shoulders, she was not such a burden, being light and small compared to my warped body. I looked down finally, her face was still twisted in the throes of a dream as her mind working to purge what she saw. The void shows us each something different, and it is not kind to those who look fully upon it. This was a mistake.

I set her down gently. More gently than anything I've done in my forsaken life. Her face calmed somewhat… A good sign, finally. I was so concerned with her I didn't even notice the massive blade that was rocketing toward me until it was almost too late.

"GET AWAY FROM HER YOU ABOMINATION!!"

My spatial sense kicked in at the last second and I felt the blade in my physical blind-spot inches from my unprotected back as I rift-walked violently backwards. A huge armoured bulk greeted my eyes as I emerged, a mane of windswept brown hair fell over eyes that smoldered with a rage I've never seen anyone carry.

"Garen… It's not what it seems."

He leveled his blade at me, pointing what I could only graciously call a sword though it barely described the thing's sheer size. The Might of Demacia was far beyond my words…

I had only just enough time to wrap myself in another envelope of energy and shift away as the space I was stand in became occupied by Garen, ripping the ground to shreds in a deadly rotation, his blade nearly cleaving me apart. This was no Summoners' Field, if one of us fell here there will be no sense of vertigo, no re-summoning buffer to hold us in place as the Summoner worked his arts to recall us to the battlefield. 

Just a corpse and a murderer.

I fleng a null sphere, limiting its power to non-lethal levels, I saw it crash into him, wrapping him in its subverting power and stealing his war-magic from him for a small time. Thankfully because this time my rift-walk was a moment too late. Garen's claymore crashed into my side, absorbed mostly by my armour. Blood still flowed from the wound. I grimaced as I pulled myself up, Garen halted as he shook off the after-effects of my spell.

_Gotta be at least two or three ribs…_

My hands are covered in some kind of oily... Blood? 

_So that's what my blood looks like now._

It was jarring but I had other things on my mind, like the energy-wrapped blade hurtling towards me.

"KASSADIN! YOU'LL DIE FOR YOUR BLASPHEMOUS TRICKS!" Garen roared as he plunged his blade into the ground.

The earth exploded from the energy release quite nearly taking my torso with it before I vanished again. The void was becoming distant, I would have to end this quickly if I wanted to survive. My reserves of mana were vast outside of the Summoner's Rift but using so many spells together on the fly was becoming difficult.

"STOP RUNNING YOU WORM!"

I rift-walked, chaining them together like I could never do in the Rift kept Garen off kilter until I could finally land next to Lux and quickly scooped her up. The rage on Garen's face as he spun around was murderous.

"I'm sorry," is all I could say as I expended my last reserves of my mana to vanish as Garen roared his hatred, his blade swinging towards my neck but striking only empty air as I stepped far through the void into the city.


	6. The Bargain

The ‘walk wasn’t long. My destination was obvious. Lux needed a healers touch and it just so happened that one of the finest was in Demacia for a certain historic match.

I could only hope it would go somewhat better than last time… 

I landed on an out-cropping balcony overlooking a beautiful garden, the flowers forever in bloom so long as this particular resident was here. I knew for a fact that the manager of this establishment kept the room open for her at any time, something about a favour he owed her. I rapped my armoured knuckles against the window pane, Lux carried gently in the crook of my arm leaning against my shoulder, she was too light. As the window opened it revealed a pair of starry eyes surrounded by twilight skin, her face crooked in a ferocious glare.

“Leave here abomination, I told you…’ Soraka stops speaking when she notices my burden, ‘You bring me a patient? No, don’t tell me what happened, I know it was not your fault, I can see it in you.”

I sighed inwardly, relieved. The Soraka I knew wouldn't allow someone who was wounded or in pain to go without treatment simply because she disliked me, but still the worry remained.

“She begged me to take her along during one of my Rift-Walks, a mage's curiosity, I gave a simple set of instructions but still she…” my voice cracked beneath my vox and I silently hoped Soraka would take it for the usual static distortion. The star maiden slowly traced her hand over Lux, an effervescent glow following a few inches above her fingers, but something in her mood is more relaxed; when she saw me it was as I expected but now.

“Took her along eh? That’s not like you voidwalker, what gift did she give you to buy such a thing I wonder?” A small smile played over her exotic features as she ministers her healing arts to Lux.

My voice dropped to a low growl made more inhuman by the distortion, “She gave me nothing star-child, she is a friend and asked a favor, one I never would have indulged if I’d given it thought.”

“Ah yes, but that is a mystery. Things like you don’t have friends.” Her voice took on a more solemn quality. The all-knowing goddess schtick didn’t fade with her descent to the ranks of mere mortals any more than her attitude. I nodded slowly though. It wasn't as if she was incorrect. Things like me… we don’t have friends for reasons like this.

Her brow creased as she seemed to find some issue, the glow deepened to a dark oceanic blue. A sweat broke out over her skin as a string of musical syllables began pouring from between her lips, an incantation. It was a powerful one, if I recognized the syntax correctly. Without warning, a deep and sickly purple energy lashed out. Void energy. It nearly collided with Soraka but in the last moments I bent it towards me, drawing it into a rift and sending it back to its secluded and poisonous home.

“What was that star-child? Did your arts work?” I ask a bit too quickly for my own liking.

I notice the drop in her features before anything else.

“Your healing arts are the most lauded in Ionia…” I said quietly, knowing this boded ill for the blonde magi on the bed.

"This not an infection, nor a wound as such voidwalker, there is a hateful spirit gnawing at the edges of her soul. My powers may preserve her for a time, but it would take one with greater knowledge of void-arts to banish this thing.” Soraka explained softly, I could tell that the failure of her arts to heal the lady Lux weighed on her. For the first time in a great while I felt angry. A part of me wanted to berate her for her failure, as unreasonable a reaction as it would be. The real hate, though, laid at my own feet. This was my sin, and I had to atone for it in my own way. So despite my personal distaste for what I was about to suggest, I spoke.

“I think I know someone but…” Soraka gave a curious expression that soured the moment she caught on to what I was saying. "The idea of asking him for anything makes even my skin crawl, but it may be her only realistic chance..." I grimaced, and the healer nodded in agreement. It was the only way. “Keep her safe star-child, I need to call in a favor…” I said, my vox turning my frustration into a hellish growl, Soraka said nothing, returning to Lux’s side as I 'walked to the roof.

From that high vantage point I reached out with my mind. Space has no meaning to the powers of the void, there is no distance. There is only fear, terror, and death. I find the oil-slick sensation of my quarrie's power. I’m never sure if it’s the power of his spells that generated the sensation, or if it was his tainted soul I was feeling. I tugged at the skeins of reality and in an instant I ‘walked to its' source, dropping in amidst a cloud of cloying incense that even my filter couldn't quite banish entirely. 

He’s not a large man, nor is he imposing in any way. His figure is slight, with unkempt black hair hanging over his face. A shawl and hood cover the rest of his features, his hands are outstretched in supplication as he chants in one of the more foul tongues of the old world.

With no care for his dark proceedings, I interrupted him, “Malzahar, I’m calling in an old debt, I need you to banish a void spirit from a colleague of ours.”

His chanting slowed and then ceased, apparently reaching some satisfactory stopping point. Silence fell as he turned to me. The mad fervor in his eyes that never seemed to fade burned disturbingly bright. He has long since been driven mad by the powers of the void. Though we both stared into that awful abyss, he blinked, and the void took him in that moment.

“A debt? A spirit? Do tell brother…” His slime-coated voice never ceased to drive my dislike of him to greater depths.

“We are not brother’s prophet, now come with me.”

He shook his head, “You wish me to banish a void-spawn back to its home when it worked so very hard to enter? No, no, no… why in this world would I do that?”

“The Gate of Five Moons, you owe me and I have come to collect," I allowed myself a small smile behind my mask as his features darkened. "Those blasphemous powers in the void would not look lightly upon such an important debt going unpaid.”

I see his brow crease in anger, going from an almost paternal voice to a fury-edged hiss. “The ritual was perfect… It was! It was! It was! Something must have interfered or changed or… or…” He spat hatefully.

“Summon ye not that which ye can’st put down thyself” I recite calmly, “You spoke the catechisms at the Gate, you saw what dwelt behind the doors of that poisonous temple from beyond and you faltered.”

I grip him by the his shawl, pulling him close, “I have seen beyond the Endless Veil, it changed me fundamentally, this world rejects my very breath now. So you will honor your debt and SAVE HER LIFE!” The last words came out as a furious roar, my vox ripping my voice to daemonic shreds and spitting them out. I saw his eyes change as he bowed his head ever so slightly.

“Very well brother”

I ripped him through the void and back to the penthouse where Lux lay fitfully sleeping.


	7. Healed

The room would have been uncomfortably silent were it not for my fingers drumming out an irritated tattoo on the table. I was far from accustomed to sitting by and waiting, doing so combined with seeing Malzahar leaning over and chanting his abominable magics over Lux was a hundred times worse. Seeing the mad interest in this case light up his eyes didn’t make it any better, that psychopath was no less than a butcher and here I was asking him for help. If I'd had any other choice…

If nothing else he knew how void magic worked on an intuitive level even I couldn't match. In point of fact he might be the only human on Runeterra who does. For all my talents in manipulating space and void-energy I am no magus. Not any more at least. My powers are inherent. As much as it galls me, I have about as much knowledge of the actual and mechanical workings of the Art as that slobbering glutton Cho'Gath. Not that I'm complaining. The price of such knowledge was standing in front of my muttering to himself, his left eye having developed and disturbingly erratic twitch.

“Well? What’s wrong with her?” I asked impatiently, my irritation surfacing after waiting and watching for nearly an hour. Soraka was as tense as I, though her training hid it well.

It's no wonder either… She knew how my affliction came to be, so if she thought that I was a monster I could only imagine her opinion of someone who willingly delves into the void. Malzahar stood up smugly, his shawl still covered the majority of his face but I can almost feel him grin.

“Yes, I do know what’s wrong. I knew a few minutes after we arrived in fact.”

My hatred for the man billowed up as I crossed the room in an instant to tower over his slight frame. “Then why didn’t you say anything?” The words come out in a lethal hiss.

“Simple, brother, I knew what it was, but I did not know how to solve it,” he answered in an infuriatingly pedantic tone. “I decided against informing you of the nature of the issue before I knew if I could solve it. Which I can.”

_Smug son of a…_

Malzahar turned from me to face Lux and I instantly felt the powers of the void converge around him. Hovering a hand over her, he chanted one of his spells, I recognized the dialect though and it was not one from Runeterra. Or indeed any other wholesome place. There was a soft crackling sound as a brackish light poured from Lux's midriff, and a single, spindly, arachnid leg extended from her side followed by several more and finally a bloated black body. No discernible anatomy governed this thing, no eyes, no mouth, just a twisted and amorphous body suspended on legs so thin it was a wonder it could hold itself up. Then again these creatures didn’t work under the same rules as the fauna here did.

I held in a noise of disgust, the thing seemed to be some distant cousin of the voidlings which latched onto Malzahar’s shadow in the void. The ones that creep through any time he tears a hole open wide enough to the void when he draws power for his spells.

“Ah… there’s a good girl… you just wanted a peek outside didn’t you?” Malzahar was cooing over the grotesque… thing… like it was a newborn kitten rather than an ambulatory pile of black sick.

“There, she is ‘healed’, and I’ll be taking her..’ He gathered up the horrible little beast as if it were a favored pet. “…as compensation.” Malzahar floats towards the doorway, “Good-bye brother, consider my debt repaid. She will live and as a bonus I’ve wiped her mind of what she saw, and only that,” he adds quickly as I tense up, “No I didn’t wipe anything else, doing so would have breached the Code, I’m a League Champion too remember?”

I would have rather given Twitch a tongue bath then let him float out of the room with that newly birthed void denizen but… 

“Fine, now get back to your hole sorcerer, but remember that this changes nothing. The next time we are on the Fields I will take great pleasure in seeing you die many times.” The words burn in my throat as I watched him leave, every instinct screaming at me to kill him and the beast and be done with it, consequences be damned.  
Then again...

I look over to the star-child who is wearing an expression of disgust for her erstwhile 'guest' that would neatly mirror my own if my face weren't covered by my life-support system.

No. Wrong time, wrong place. Soraka would be duty-bound to save his life anyway, another time Prophet…

I returned to Lux's side and waited for her to wake, it was almost sundown and I couldn't evade the Might of Demacia forever.


	8. Consequences

The day was waning. Lux had yet to awaken but her sleep was a natural, restorative one, rather than the comatose state of sickness she’d been in earlier. I was thankful for that at least. Once Malzahar had done his work, Soraka had kindly requested I vacate my abominable form from her domicile. She’d argued against my taking Lux with me but I wasn’t willing to leave her side until she awoke on her own. The Starchild didn’t trust me, which was fair enough, I’d done little to engender such trust, but she knew the girl was going to heal fine on her own now that the parasitic spirit was removed, so after some token resistance, I left with the Lady of Light in my arms.

I looked over the setting sun from the balcony of my League-appointed room. Unlike some of the more popular champions like Taric and Ezreal, there was no innkeeper that felt comfortable hosting me, so it came down to the League to provide housing. Today, that was in a rather nice penthouse suite in one of the classier tower-hotels of Demacia’s noble district.

Lux rested on a chaise-lounge I’d brought out to the balcony for that express purpose. Her golden hair pooled around a pillow like a waterfall of sunlight. I took comfort in watching the easy rise and fall of her chest, knowing how close she’d come to death today had shaken me more than I was comfortable admitting.

I felt my own breath catch as I saw her eyes flutter softly. A moment later, they opened to reveal her ocean-blue sapphires. “Kass?” The word came out faintly, followed by a yawn as her head cleared of the usual amnesia of waking. “Where are we?”

“My suite, you fell asleep,” I didn’t meet her gaze, instead contenting myself with watching the sunset over steepled, gauntleted fingers. “And almost died.”

Lux’s eyes widened as she sought to reconstruct the events leading up to this point, no doubt finding the gap in her memory where her vision of the void had been expertly excised by Malzahar. I hated him, but I couldn’t deny his expertise in the matter.

“The ‘walk… oh, Kass, I’m sorry I-” I cut off her words with a raised hand.

“You’re alive and safe, none the worse for the wear,” I interjected, sounding a great deal more calm than I felt. I wanted to harangue her for her idiocy in disobeying my orders but I knew it wouldn’t help matters. “I would appreciate you adhering to my warnings, though, rather than flouting them entirely”

She flinched, “I just…” she let out a shuddering breath and I saw her fighting back tears. She was ashamed, of both ignoring my orders and, unless I missed my guess… “I thought I could handle it, whatever was beyond that veil… I thought I was strong enough.” 

“It is not, and never will be a matter of strength,” my voice hissed through the grillwork mouthpiece of my rebreather. “The void consumes, that is its nature. I understood the void and the result was a fundamental change to my anatomy, to the point that Runeterra itself is now toxic to me.”

Lux rose from her seat and walked over to me, laying a hand on my armoured pauldron. “I’m sorry… I should have listened.”

“Yes, you should have.” The words came out harsher than I’d intended, even moreso for the distortion of the vox. Lux flinched again, and turned her face away.

“I… I’ll leave… I’m sorry.” Lux turned fully, and I listened to her light-footed steps moving away. 

It was for the best. I was dangerous, my powers were dangerous. I was both the herald of the void and it’s most vehement opponent. Lux, for all her genius and power, was not prepared for the eternal war that was perpetuated by my very existence.

“Kass?” 

I closed my eyes, willing myself to ignore her. The mask made it easier. It put distance between us, a distance that I desperately needed right now. Otherwise I would turn back to her. I would forgive her, and she would remain in danger.

“Kass… I just… can you at least say you forgive me?” Lux spoke and for a moment I forgot she was a magus of power and nearly a princess in her own right. At this moment she sounded no different than any other person who was hurt and had in turn hurt someone else, and regretted it dearly. “Please, I won’t… I won’t stay, I just want to know that you…”

I weighed my options. If I remained silent, I decided, Lux would likely continue to try to seek my approval, possibly putting herself in danger. She was a determined woman, feeling beholden to someone, even something like me, went deeply against her grain. Forgiving her would give her, I hoped, the closure needed to move on and away. 

I opened my mouth to speak, and as I did I sensed it. A gunshot from beyond my spatial awareness entering my field of ‘sight’. I had less than a second to react, I tore up from my seat and seized Lux who let out an undignified squawk as I clapped an armored hand across her eyes and wrapped my arms around her waist. Rapidly, too quickly to be safe, I tore the fabric of reality and fell through the void, landing back in realspace several feet away in time to see a high-caliber tear through the seat I’d been occupying and into my room. 

From the angle I reckoned that the shooter hadn’t been able to seen Lux, I was too large a target and Lux was rather small in her own right. She’d been hidden behind the bulk of my voidsuit. If that shell had struck it likely would have passed through me… and into her. I bristled with anger at the thought just as my door exploded inward. An armored fist withdrew with a pneumatic hiss as a pink-haired bruiser stepped into the room amidst the fragments of wood.

“Kassadin Voidwalker,” she began, “the names Vi, Enforcer of Piltover, and you are going down.” She smirked, slamming her massive hextech fists together, creating a spark of power between them. “Nothing personal.”


End file.
